Bookwala

Our little shop, Bookwala, sits at No. 46 in the Chah Chand area, right on Zero Road. It’s one of those places where the shelves are a bit too high and the aisles are a bit too narrow, but that's how a book place should be, I think. We have stacks of stuff everywhere. Sometimes it takes me a minute to find exactly what someone is looking for because the piles keep growing. People come in from the street to escape the noise for a bit and just browse. It isn't a chain store with a cafe inside; it's just a room full of paper and ink. I spend most of my day dusting covers or checking what new arrivals have come in. It gets a bit cold in the winter months since the building is old, but we just wear extra sweaters and keep going. We get a lot of students and older folks who have been living around Zero Road their whole lives. It is nice to hear the stories they tell while they're picking out something to read. We don't really do much advertising. People usually just find us by walking past or hearing about it from a neighbor. Dealing with books isn't going to make anyone a millionaire, but it's a decent way to spend the day. We keep the doors open, wait for the next person to walk in, and try to keep things quiet and orderly so everyone can find their next read without too much trouble.